Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight. Matsuri Hino does.
Yori lifted the spoon to her lips, the soup barely registering on her taste buds as she stared lifelessly at the walls. She was assigned a room, full of plush furniture and elaborate decor, as if that would smooth her frazzled nerves. As if that would make everything okay. But she knew that across the hallway was the room of a killer. And there was nothing a red velvet chair she was currently sunken into while she absentmindedly picked at the decorative buttons, could do about it. She shivered as green eyes flashed red in her mind. She took up her water, the cold ice clinking against the glass as she gulped greedily, the water sending another chill down her spine. And yet as her skin gathered goosebumps with the cold surrounding her, she welcomed the relief in her throat opting to just wrap herself tighter in a blanket.
Yuki had came by to visit earlier that morning, and explained everything once more. It had taken a lot of self control of Yori's part not to just scream at them to let her go back to her normal life, which was taunting her from across the campus. She lashed out at anyone who dared near her besides Yuki, who she has latched onto like a lifeline. Everyday they would bring her food and ask if she would like anything. To which she demanded freedom and they just left. Freedom apparently didn't fall under the category of anything. She coughed as some soup went down the wrong pipe, burning her trachea. She lapped up some more water to rid herself of the burning sensation. Though as if summoned, the door flung open in haste.
"Are you okay?" Blue eyes wide with fear clashed with hollowed brown. His ragged breath was all that sounded in the room. Yori remained silent, not acknowledging his presence. He shook his head to clear it of its panicked thoughts and sighed, "Still ignoring me are you?" Hanabusa didn't know why he even expected an answer from the girl. The only time he even hears her tone of voice is when he is standing guard outside the door whenever Yuki comes to visits. But even then he had to listen in very closely, which made him feel guilty of eavesdropping. He grabbed the pitcher of ice water and refilled her glass. "Make sure to stay hydrated." He simply stated, before setting the pitcher back and plopping down on an arm chair. Yori made no movements as she stopped them all in his presence. Only when she was required to move she did, and even then she would take her sweet time thinking about it. Her esophagus still burned slightly from the soup and she wanted to very badly to have another sip of water, but she still didn't make any initial moves. Instead she turned her eyes to stare at the glass, mentally willing the monster in front of her to go away so she would be alone again.
Minutes passed, and the burning sensation refused to go away, and maybe it was just all in Yori's mind, but it seemed to grow even more, grating in her nerves. The room was deadly still, and Yori wondered if he had left silently. She dared a glance only to see his previous occupied seat was empty. Her muscles relaxed slowly and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"If you wanted me to leave you could have just said so." A voice resounded from behind her. She jumped and spun around, glaring at the man. Hanabusa was slightly bent at the waist as he had spoke next to her ear. He straightened himself out while running a hand through his blonde locks. "Though that would require you to actually speak to me. You know...use your vocal cords?" Hanabusa gestured to his throat, as if she didn't know how to use her voice. "Who are you, Ariel?" He sighed as she just stood there and glared at him, not caring about his tauntings. It was one thing for someone to yell at Hanabusa, but it was another thing to be completely ignored. Hanabusa wa not one to be ignored, and yet she actively defied him and it grated on his nerves. He had to squash down the desire to scare her into submission since his ass would be handed to him from both Kaname and Yuki. But he had to do something to get rid of the hostile atmosphere she has with him. The blonde vampire was getting annoyed though when he saw that she was not backing down anytime soon, he broke eye contact. "Whatever. Call me if you need anything, though I doubt you will." With that he left to go back to his own room, which was adjacent to hers. He shut the door gently and allowed Yori to finally get a sip of water.
She downed the whole glass in three gulps, nervously looking around making sure she was alone. The soup sat now cold from the exposure of the air, and she pushed it aside. Her head stopped swirling after she stood up for a few seconds, and she waddled with her blanket wrapped tightly around her body back to her bed. Or well it wasn't her bed. No. Her bed had been left unmade in her dorm as she remembered she had rushed out that morning. Her bed had decorative pillows from claw machine games and stuffed animals she found cute. This bed she was currently laying on was cold and absent of memories. It was the bed provided to her in an attempt to please her with luxury. The soft smell of roses greeted her nose as the sheets were emitting the smell as if made of the rose petals themselves. Yori leaned into the smell taking comfort in the sweet scent. It reminded her of the many rose bushes spread out around campus. The campus she couldn't return to.
Her mood immediately plummeted, as she was once again reminded of her trapped state. She wanted to scream. She is wanted to explode in a fiery rage and take back her freedom by force, tossing everything out of her way in a childish temper tantrum. But most of all she wanted to cry. Her throat swelled up with a new wave of tears prickling in her eyes, and yet she swallowed hard and tried to suck them back up. She curled into herself with the blanket, with the desire for change nibbling away at her mind. She had been doing the same boring routine for almost two weeks. She would wake up, with a fleeting sense of hope that it was all just a bad dream, only to be reminded shortly after with a pair of ice blue eyes and a charming fanged smile that it was in fact all real. After that she would just stare at the walls, letting millions upon billions of different scenarios pass through her head as to how that night could have ended. How if she changed one little thing she did that night, whether it be what she ordered or what she had said, that it could have been all different. Yuki could come in every afternoon after her classes and see her in her most broken state. Yori hated it. When did she become such a sorry sap? Crying would solve none of her problems and yet here she was bundled up into a ball of tears. A knock sounded off the polished stained doors, but it fell deaf on Yori's numbed state. As did the creak of the door opening and the footsteps echoing closer to her lumped form on the bed. In a flash the footsteps turned back around and was out the door.
Hanabusa was a smart man, despite what others may think. He read books in his free time often writing notes and annotations in the margins. He aced all his tests and quizzes, placing him third in the entire school, right behind Takuma and Kaname himself. He could recite off the entire periodic table with names, atomic numbers and their molecular structure. He could give you an in depth lecture of the mechanics of fluid dynamics within a car, or the calculations of space travel withholding the existence of dark matter. His room was littered with books among his other collection is broken trinkets. But yet not one of these books tell anytime of comforting someone, not even picking up a conversation with said person. Hanabusa was what some people called booksmart, but not peoplesmart. It just wasn't in his blood to be able to identify what someone is feeling and be sensitive towards them. Though when he sees someone crying he will typically assume they are sad. Kids in kindergarten even know that tears are a clear sign of being upset. But their thoughts leave it off at that. They don't dwell on the reasons or causes because they don't know to think that far. And Hanabusa was no kindergartener, despite Kaname's treatment sometimes. He knew the exact reason why she allowed her fearless eyes to trickle down tears in the dark. But he had no way to heed those tears as he was the cause. Or well not specifically him, at least he didn't think, but more like the situation he put her in. Okay...maybe it was him. But at that night he honestly thought he was doing the right thing. Yeah maybe his thoughts were more entertained by the thought of Yuki's grateful face. She might have even hugged him out of her happiness of getting her best friend back. But here he was in a deeper mess than if he probably hadn't intervene. Did he regret any of it? Surprisingly no. The only regret he had was putting on that ring as her emotions were strong and often overrode his in her panic. He had been researching day and night, the growing bags under his normally bright and exuberant eyes being proof of his actions. There was no way in sight he could break the link on his own. And without the link broken Yori was forced to stay here without further instructions, which was the very cause of her current state. Hanabusa finally felt the headache of her crying ebb away and he assume she had cried herself to sleep.
"I have a new assignment" Akatsuki's voice rang out from behind Hanabusa, as he loosened his tie heading towards the closet. Hanabusa gathered his strength and summed the will to move from his cluttered desk.
"I can get ready in five minutes." his voice sounded foreign in his own ears. He cough in an attempt to cover up his surprise.
"No. Hanabusa. I have a new assignment." Akatsuki refused to turn around as he continue to stand in front of the closet as if indecisive between clothes. "You are going to stay here." His words rang out in the air for a few moments as Hanabusa tried to grasp their meaning. Though when it clicked his anger flared.
"What do you mean I'm staying?! I haven't missed an assignment since I got here. There's no way in hell I'm missing one now." Hanabusa grabbed his coat and yanked it on with a slow fire building up in his eyes though it was soon snuffed out by Akatsuki unending stare. Hanabusa sighed and laid his crumpled coat back down on the chair.
"Is this because of her?" Hanabusa voice grew acidic as his thoughts continued in their path. "She's perfectly safe here without me!" His body felt like shaking but he reigned in his control and tried to assess the situation. "Is this under Kaname's orders?" He asked finally under the suffocating silence in the room. The sudden absence of Akatsuki seemed to give him his answer as he sat down with an angry pout forming on his lips absentmindedly. He sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day, trying to clear his head of all tainted thoughts. He should look at this in a positive light. He closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair, the light creaking protesting against his weight as his arms meet behind his head for support. At least he had the whole day to himself, allowing him to do certain errands, or just sit back in his silk pajamas and relax and not think about the mess he's gotten himself into. Nor that said mess just woke up, and is trying walking down the hall towards the lobby where a group of at least 20 vampires lazed around for their next class to start. His eyes shot open. This was not going to be good.
She tried to keep her breathing as quiet and subtle as possible, her feet careful to not hit the floor too hard least they creak and blow her cover. Her nap felt empowering, as once she cried out all the tears her body could muster she felt renewed able to take on the world. And if the world now consisted of vampires then so be it. She wasn't about to sit around and wait for some vampire to call her dinner. No she was going to escape. The hallway walls all looked the same no matter how many times she seemed to turn the corner or walk down a flight of stairs, towering over her as if mocking her spirit. Just as she saw a big set of doors that seemed to lead to a main room, she felt a chill go down her spine. She whipped around only to be face to face with the very man that made her head spin. She opened her mouth to scream only for his large hand to cover the bottom half of her face.
"I wouldn't scream if I were you. Least you attract more of me." Hanabusa's advice fell on deaf ears as her teeth dug into his palm. Hanabusa expected no less, though was surprised to see the fire back in her actions. She bit harder, her jaw aching from the force the pressure breaking skin. Blood slowly seeped down her lips dripping its way down her throat. Hanabusa flinched at the puncture, dread filling his body. "Now you've done it." he mumbled. Without another word he swept her up throwing her now flailing body over his shoulder like a sack. Yori squirmed and scratched, her mouth opening about to let out another scream, but before she could even try her captor hissed out.
"Be quiet!" Just like that, with his simple command her throat constricted, she opened her mouth to try once more but only air came out. Her hands squeezed around her throat wondering what on earth happened. Why couldn't she speak? Her eyes slid over to Hanabusa, only to be shocked to see his were already on her. A sly smile formed on his lips, his eyes glistening in their icy blue hue. "So now you listen to me?" His smug reply fueled her with rage. If this is how she was going to die, then so be it. She took a deep breath and did what she did best. She jammed her knee into his chest with enough force to surprise him, his hold loosening. Within that split second she managed to flip herself feet over head landing behind him on the ground. Swiftly she tripped him, pushing his feet right out from under him. His eyes flashed red with anger, his head hitting the hard floor with a sicking crack. The sound did nothing to phrase Yori as she climbed on top of the fallen vampire, her hands locking his in a tight hold above his head, her strength surprising for her looks. A shard of glass glistened in the moonlight as she held it to his neck. She didn't seem to care for the shard itself digging into her own skin. Though her throat was still restricted her eyes read deadly, stone cold and fearless. Hanabusa allowed her to keep control over him, curious as to her next step, her eyes telling a story all on their own, trailing him along for the tale. The smell of blood engulfed Hanabusa, the intoxicating smell making his mind fuzzy. "I always loved a girl on top." The shard pressed closer into his skin, not breaking it but letting it's intimidating presence known with an indent. He couldn't help himself. This girl...Yori seemed so fresh. Maybe it was the blood speaking, the way hers was smooth and sweet contrasting greatly with the spicy determination in her eyes. He mentally shook himself out of his thoughts. It was definitely the blood talking. He was in no position to be attracted to this mere human, despiste the position he was literally in. "Hate to cut the play time short, hon, but unless you want to be eaten I suggest you let me up and go back into your room." Okay he wasn't going to actually eat her, nor were the curious vampires that were coming up the stairs. But he didn't need the rumor of a human staying in the night dorms floating about, even if it wasn't in fact a rumor. He saw her eyes flicker towards the big set of doors, hearing the low mumbled and shuffling of others, fierce yet...hesitant. She gulped before strengthening her resolved. The door creaked open, and Hanabusa all but signed. In a flash he flipped their positions and angled his head to her neck. Yori gasped the shard clattering to the floor, cracking even more.
"I told you guys it was just Aido-sama fooling around again." one of the vampire students piped up, his own eyes glowing red.
"Hey mind sharing, Hanabusa?" One of them had the audacity to ask, chucking to his friends who only licked their lips. The group of five had smelled the blood and gotten curious enough to follow its scent. If only they knew curiosity killed the cat. Hanabusa bit his lip, the blood dripping down his chin before glaring at the group.
"Don't you know how to read the atmosphere. Give us a little privacy. Now." he growled out the last part, a glint settling over his eyes freezing the hooligans in their spot, before they gulped and let out frantic and hasty apologies. The five all but ran out closing the door firmly back as if they were never there. Hanabusa licked his own blood off of this lips, before letting his eyes roam to the tiny girl below him. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, preparing for the worst, her chest stilled as if she was holding her breath. Her collarbone looked so thin in the pale moonlight, her shirt falling off of her shoulder as if to tease him. He tugged it back into its proper position, one of her eyes opened at his action, the air tense and supercharged. Yori wasted no time. She reached for the glass shard once more, and slashed it around towards his face. Blood flowed freely from the newly formed long scratch along his cheek. He hissed.
Fearless indeed.